Chapter 10: Their Cursed

Cullen

I paced back and forth in front of my bed. Jaime had just left none too happy with me, but I would deal with that later. Maximus was going crazy telling me I needed to go to Remi. I needed to figure out what exactly was going on with her. Her scent clung to my clothes which was making it harder to think straight. The mouthwatering apple smell clung to me and my body ached to go to her, hold her, mark her, mate her.

I gave up on figuring things out for the moment and went to take a shower. I discarded my clothes into the laundry hamper before climbing into the shower and letting the hot water wash over me. I scrubbed my body with soap, trying to wash away any trace of her scent on me.

Remi floated back into my mind. What happened to her as we crossed the boundary? She was completely fine when we left her apartment. Was it part of whatever was cloaking her? Why was she cloaked in the first place? Who was trying to hide her?

The file on my desk probably did not hold any answers. My security would have alerted me if she were supernatural in any way or they had any indication she was. But there might be some clue as to where she came from at least.

Calder came to my mind next. The Elders had been right. We shared a mate, although I did not tell him I knew she was my mate as well. He did not have to say it; I could tell by the way he reacted to her scent and when Gentry alerted us to her being hurt. My heart clenched a bit thinking about her laying on the ground. Her breathing was labored, and she was barely conscious, but I did my best to act passive about it.

I tried to push the heartache away. I could not even begin thinking about accepting her as my mate until I knew who she was and where she came from. Plus, I had already accepted Jaime and she was prepared to be Luna now.

The shower started to run cold. I forgot I had just been standing here under the hot water as I got lost in my thoughts. I turned the water off and got out of the shower, throwing a towel around my waist. I went to my closet to find some clothes. I needed to get to the bottom of everything soon.

Remi

“Werewolves?” I said in disbelief. “You’re joking right?” I set the cup of water I was holding down on my bedside table. I did not want to drink too much and throw up again although I think it was residual from last night. My head still felt fuzzy, but the weird buzzing had gone away.

“Actually, I am not,” Calder said. He looked at me carefully.

“What do werewolves have to do with your brother abducting me?”

He sighed. “How do I explain all of this?” he paused. I waited for him to continue. “Okay, let me explain everything and then I will answer all your questions.” I nodded. “Okay. So, there are two realms in this world. We are in the Ordinary Realm. This is where humans live. The other realm is the Supernatural Realm. That is where all manner of supernatural creatures live: werewolves, vampires, witches, fae. There is a boundary between worlds that provides protection for both sides. Humans cannot generally pass through the boundary to the Supernatural Realm, but supernatural creatures can come to the Ordinary Realm. Laws in the Supernatural Realm prevent us from revealing our secrets to humans so generally, we do not stay here long.”

He paused for a moment judging my reaction. I was just trying to keep up. He sighed like he did not want to get to this part. “I am a werewolf. So is Cullen, Gentry and Jaime. We were raised in the Supernatural Realm. The Carlisle’s own a conglomerate in the Ordinary Realm, so Cullen and I go back and forth between them more often than most.”

“Okay, so you are a werewolf. Setting aside the myriad of questions that come to mind about that, what does all that have to do with your brother abducting me.”

“Everyone has a scent. Supernatural creatures can usually tell others apart simply by smell. For example, wolves can differentiate rogues from their own pack members. When we are in the Ordinary realm, we usually only smell humans around us. When we came to the diner that first day, none of us could smell anything from you. You were a void. That is why I was so intrigued by you at first. You did not smell human or supernatural. Cullen pretended he did not even notice but I knew better. I suspected you were on his mind after that day. I was curious about why you didn’t have a scent as well, but I was more curious about you. I thought you were interesting and wanted to get to know you. That is why Gentry asked for your number; he was pushing me to ask you out. I will not lie to you; I wanted to figure out why you had no scent and you being cloaked had crossed my mind. But I would have never forced you over the boundary like that.”

“So that is what that was last night? He took me over this boundary?” I asked him.

“Yes. He drove you right over it. The boundary would nullify any cloaking you had in the Ordinary Realm. A lot of supernatural creatures use some degree of cloaking to hide themselves better. For example, Fae have very distinct features that would instantly indicate they were not human. They have magic that allows them to change their appearance to look more human. Cullen took you past the boundary in order to erase the cloaking we both have suspected was over you.”

“So, when he said wolf…”

“Yes, Remi. You are a werewolf.”

I stared at him blankly. I am positive I am not a werewolf. There is no way I would not know that. This was all so absurd.

“Remi, say something,” Calder said. I realized I had been quiet for a few minutes now.

“I, uh… I’m not… I can’t be….” I tried to figure out what to say.

“I can’t give you many answers right now, but I know two things. First, you are in fact a werewolf, Remi. Second, I know that you are my mate,” he smiled sweetly at me.

“Mate?” I said more confused now than ever.

“I guess you could compare it to what humans call a ‘true love’. But it is so much more. For a werewolf, a mate is their other half. It is the person destined to be their perfect match in every way. I think that is why I could not stop thinking about you and you captured my attention. I just couldn’t smell you, so my wolf wasn’t sure yet,” he explained. His eyes shone with love.

“Wait a second. You are telling me that I am your destiny? That we are meant to be together?” I asked him. My head was spinning again. This was all officially too much. He nodded his head. “This is all way too much. This is just… I can’t… I have to…” I said as realization washed over me. “Oh no. I am so late. I am so fired,” I said trying to get up. I still felt weak, but I had to get to work.

Calder’s arms wrapped around me before I could fall out of the bed. His touch was warm and soft, it felt comforting. He pulled me up into his lap. “Hey, no. You are in no condition to go to work. Do not worry. I had Gentry call in sick for you,” he said softly. His arms were still around me.

“You did what? Calder, I can’t lose my job!” I said panicking.

“You won’t lose your job, I promise,” he said soothingly. I do not know why but I was relaxing in his arms even though my mind was racing. We sat there quietly for a few minutes. The more my body relaxed, the sleepier I began to feel. Being in his arms felt really nice. It felt safe. It was a feeling that I had not had in years now. “Why don’t you rest for a while. This is all a lot to process,” he said as he started to move me back over to my pillows. I gripped his arm before he let me go. I let my eyes flutter closed.

“Don’t…” I whispered. He held still for a moment before he pulled me back onto his lap. I let myself drift off to sleep in his arms.

Calder

I smiled as she fell asleep in my arms. Her hand still gripped my arm. She may not feel it all the way yet, but the mate bond was forming. Once she was fully asleep, I lifted her up and positioned myself on the bed more comfortably. Before I sat down, I pulled my phone out of my pocket. I set her on my lap once more and let her small frame lean against my chest with one of my arms around her. I buried my nose in her hair and inhaled her luscious scent.

I had to get this all figured out for her because I was never going to let her go. I had finally found her, and she was so perfect. I did not care what she was or why she had been cloaked in the Ordinary Realm.

I grabbed my phone and called Gentry first. He answered on the second ring. “Hey, man. How’s Cinderella?”

“She’s okay, I think. She woke up vomiting and she's asleep now,” I told him.

“Did she remember anything from last night? She didn’t freak out that you were there did she?”

“She didn’t freak out, but she did remember all of it pretty much. I tried telling her everything, but I got to the part about mates and she sort of got overwhelmed…” I said sadly.

“That sounds pretty reasonable. I heard human mates are hard to manage sometimes and she did not know until today she wasn’t human. Cullen has been shut up in his room all day. Jaime went in there this morning after she woke up, but she stormed out not long after.”

“Great,” I sighed. I wonder what he told her. “Do you know…”

“If Remi is his mate as well? No. He won’t talk to me right now.”

“Even better. Well, I think we need to have Remi looked at by a pack doctor,” I said moving on to what was most important. “She still looks pretty pale and I have no idea why she passed out last night. We know it wasn’t just a simple cloaking, but I still can’t imagine it should have hurt her like that.”

“Good idea. But do you think we should take her back beyond the boundary again? I mean what if it all starts over?” he asked.

“No, you’re right. Do you think one of the Doctors would come here? Maybe your grandfather?” I asked hopefully.

“I don’t see why not. I can call him now, see if I can get him to come today.”

“The sooner the better. I want to make sure she is alright, and I know she will try to go to work tomorrow if I don’t have a legitimate reason she cannot.”

“Well, your brooding copy already bought the diner so you can assure her that her job is safe,” he said nonchalantly.

“What!” I almost yelled. Remi stirred in my arms a bit and I quieted down. “He did what?”

“Yea, he bought the diner over the weekend. Paperwork was finalized yesterday while you two were at the center. He tried to spin me some story about diversifying. He thinks I am as dumb as I look, apparently,” Gentry explained.

I rolled my eyes and looked at the ceiling. “Okay, we will deal with that later. I am sure she is going to feel like that was a violation of privacy. For now, let's get your grandfather here to check her out. I can try and get her to come to the apartment in a bit with me.”

“I will text you as soon as I have the details. And Calder?”

“Yea?”

“Congrats on finding your mate,” he said before hanging up. I smiled again and looked down at her. Her cheeks were a bit flushed as she breathed softly. Her soft pink lips were parted slightly. I wanted to run my tongue all over them. I was dreading the next call I needed to make. I quickly sent an email to my assistant telling her my plans were changing and I may not be coming back to the office now. I told her to messenger anything important that required my signature to the apartment and I would send it back.

I dialed his number and waited. Right before the call went to voicemail, he picked up.

“Yes,” Cullen said.

“We need to talk about this,” I said.

“I am not sure what there is to talk about. She was either hiding herself with some of the best cloaking we have ever come across or someone was hiding her. I intend to find out just what is going on,” he said.

“Why? You did something to her just pulling her across the boundary like that.”

“There was no quicker way to know. And she was cloaked so I was not wrong,” he tried to justify.

“Is she your mate?” I asked. He was silent. I knew he was not going to flat out lie about it. Cullen was terrible at communicating and a total d**k most of the time but he would never lie to me. “I had a feeling. If you knew she was your mate as soon as you brought her over the boundary, why were you screaming at her? Why didn’t you care when she passed out?”

He was silent. “If you can’t admit that you care about her, you don’t deserve her, Cullen.”

“Whether I care about her or not is irrelevant now. Not only do we not know why she was cloaked or reacted that way to crossing the boundary, I have a mate. Jaime was chosen and I accepted her already. She will be Luna and you know that.”

“No, she won’t. Because I will not accept her. Especially now that I found Remi. And if you really accepted Jaime, she would be marked by now. You two are not even sleeping in the same room anymore despite whatever facade you try to playoff. Cullen you have been unhappy about it all along. We do not have to settle. We found her.”

“The elders will never accept her over Jaime, Calder. It does not matter what we want. We have a pack to think about,” he said. I could hear the emotion leaving his voice. I sighed. He was always like this. The good soldier, the rule follower. He would give up his own happiness for his duty to the pack. He was trying to shut this down, so he did not have to face his own feelings about it.

“Cullen look, I am not going to sit here and try to convince you that it is okay to accept your fated mate. But I will tell you that I refuse to reject her. I just will not do it. If our pack cannot accept who the Moon Goddess blessed us with, then they do not deserve us as Alpha. I am bringing her back later to get checked on by a pack doctor. I thought you at least deserve a heads up there.”

“Fine,” he said and hung up. I let out a breath. My brother and I were polar opposites. I brushed a few strands of hair from Remi’s face. I just hope he would not reject her. I could not watch her go through that pain. I got the feeling she had enough pain in her life until now.